A name is a very important thing

October 21, 2012

"What happened to good old-fashioned names like George and Helen?" -- my grandfather asked of my mom when naming me.

A name can mean everything. It will be with a child for life. It can be the cause of nicknames and possible ridicule. You even have to consider initials when naming a child.

It's a lot to think about.

Do you go with the traditional names like my grandfather was such as fan of? John. Paul. George. (and Ringo, right?)

Do you go Biblical? Jacob. Joseph. Benjamin.

Do you go completely off the wall like some celebrities? Pilot. Kal-el. Caspar.

Do you go ethnic? Guido. Adolf. Patrick.

My first rule when the picking of a name began was it must be gender-specific. When a teacher looks at a student roster for the year, he/she can look at my child's name and know whether a little boy or little girl will walk through the door.

Names eliminated because of this rule were Morgan, Dakota and Laken.

The second rule was that the first name not belong to anyone in either of our families.

Eliminated suggestions: Michael. Hunter. Christopher.

I was told to make the name easy for a child to write/spell. To follow that suggestion, I had to eliminate any name that began with "Z." I myself still cannot make a cursive capital "Z." How can I ask a child to do so?

Eliminated: Zachary. Zeke. Zane.

Sounds like I crossed all the names of, doesn't it? Actually, no. I got a lot of ideas from family, friends and readers, not to mention the weekly conversations in the newsroom revolving around the name of my child.

My mom tried to think of an "M" name (my older son's name starts with "m") that would suit my rules and possibly fit my liking. She came up with Mac.

My mother-in-law suggested a family name, Dillon.

My step-mom's nephew Brandon said I should go with something strong like John. He said he would never mess with anyone named John.

The newsroom came up with a bunch of names: Blake, Garrett, Frederick (courtesy of news editor Fred), Brennan, Harrison (because it sounds regal), Isaac, Heath, Seven (as a reference to "Seinfeld"), Ethan, Jethro (as in Leroy Jethro Gibbs from "NCIS"), Conner and Lefty.